29 Facts About Rachel Reeves

Rachel Jane Reeves was born on 13 February 1979 and is a British politician and economist serving as Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer since 2021.

Rachel Reeves did not return to the Shadow Cabinet following Jeremy Corbyn's election as Labour leader in 2015, instead serving as chair of the Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Committee from 2017 to 2020.

Rachel Reeves then graduated as MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics.

Rachel Reeves worked as an economist at the Bank of England and British Embassy in Washington, DC between 2000 and 2006.

Rachel Reeves was once interviewed for a job at Goldman Sachs, but turned it down, despite claiming that the job could have made her "a lot richer".

Rachel Reeves cites the influence of her father on her and her sister Ellie Rachel Reeves MP on her socially democratic politics.

Rachel Reeves recalls how, when she was eight years old, her father, Graham, pointed out the then-Labour Party leader Neil Kinnock on the television and "told us that was who we voted for".

Rachel Reeves says she and her sister have "both known we were Labour since then".

Rachel Reeves joined the Labour Party at the age of sixteen.

Rachel Reeves stood as the Labour Party parliamentary candidate in the Conservative safe seat of Bromley and Chislehurst at the 2005 general election, finishing second.

Rachel Reeves later sought nomination for the Leeds West seat at the 2010 general election, seeking to replace John Battle, who had chosen to retire.

Rachel Reeves was selected to contest the seat from an all-women shortlist of Labour Party prospective parliamentary candidates.

Rachel Reeves was promoted to the post of Shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury in October 2011.

Rachel Reeves caused controversy within the Labour Party by stating Labour would be "tougher" than the Conservative Party in cutting the benefits bill.

Rachel Reeves caused further controversy in early 2015 by stating "We [Labour] don't want to be seen as, and we're not, the party to represent those who are out of work".

In September 2016, Rachel Reeves described her constituency as being "like a tinderbox" that could explode if immigration was not curbed.

When Keir Starmer became Labour leader in 2020, Rachel Reeves was appointed as Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, with responsibility for Labour's response to Brexit and shadowing Michael Gove.

Rachel Reeves was promoted to the role of Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer in a shadow cabinet reshuffle on 9 May 2021, replacing Anneliese Dodds.

In December 2021 Rachel Reeves said she would support a 2p cut to the Income Tax basic rate, if the Conservatives proposed that.

Rachel Reeves said Labour planned to replace business rates with a new system that charged shops fairly compared to larger online businesses.

Rachel Reeves said Britain had seen Japanese-style Lost Decades of growth, which she said a Labour government would reverse through following fiscal rules and eliminating borrowing for day-to-day spending, with no unfunded election spending commitments.

Rachel Reeves did not think Britain would rejoin European Union or its single market in the next 50 years.

Rachel Reeves said she was against the return of freedom of movement for workers between the UK and EU.

Rachel Reeves said the falling membership of the Labour Party was a good thing, as it was shedding unwelcome supporters.

Rachel Reeves was a proponent of quantitative easing in 2009, to alleviate the late-2000s recession having studied the effects of the policy on Japan in the early 2000s.

Rachel Reeves is a vice-chair of Labour Friends of Israel, contributed a chapter to a book about Israeli politics and society, and supports the Auschwitz-Birkenau Foundation.

Rachel Reeves regularly contributes to The Guardian newspaper, as well as the websites LabourList and Progress.

Rachel Reeves is married to Nicholas Joicey, a civil servant and Gordon Brown's former private secretary and speech writer.

Rachel Reeves announced her first pregnancy on 20 September 2012, and gave birth to a daughter, and later a son, in 2015.